10-yr bonds gain for third day as commodities slide

Bonds advanced for a third day, extending the biggest weekly gain in more than a month, as falling commodity prices added to speculation inflation will slow. Yields on benchmark notes fell to the lowest in almost three weeks after crude oil slid below $90 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the first time since February.

The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 raw materials has declined almost 30 per cent from a July peak. A government report showed October 3 that India’s inflation rate slipped below 12 per cent for the first time since June.

“The gains in bonds is directly proportional to the losses in crude oil’’ and other commodities, said Krish Ramkumar, who manages the equivalent of $1.1 billion in Indian debt at Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management in Mumbai.

The yield on the benchmark 8.24 per cent note due April 2018 fell 17 basis points to 8.13 per cent as of the 5:30 pm close in Mumbai, adding to last week’s 30 basis-point decline, according to the central bank’s trading system.

The price rose 1.08 per 100 rupee face amount to 100.71. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.